I stood it as long as I could. I watched the thermostat go from 72 to 76 in a matter of an hour or so. When the house started to close in, I did it. I turned on the air conditioning.

Today defines humid. The air is thick and still. I think there was a bit of rain earlier as the deck was damp, but under the umbrella was dry so the rain was light and quickly came and went. I do have something on my list today, but I’m hedging and thinking tomorrow. The more comfortable I get, the less inclined I am to move. I do have the laundry going: a load in the washer and another in the dryer. The laundry bag sat by the cellar door for two days, and that was enough to motivate me. Usually I don’t move until I am just about out of unmentionables.

I am most decidedly spoiled. Life is so easy. If I’m hot, on goes the AC. If I’m cold, I raise the thermostat. My car, like most of ours, has AC so I run from the car to the store which also has AC. I get my groceries delivered right to my kitchen. Roseanna and Lee come and clean every two weeks. My yard, deck and lawn are tended to every Friday. After the lawn is cut and the walkway trimmed, the deck is blown free of debris, especially acorns. Some of them are half eaten so I think they are the red spawn’s revenge. He probably roars laughing when I step on one and howl.

When I was a kid, everyone pretty much complained about the heat. It was a local pastime. The old “hot enough for you?” was often asked though no one expected an answer. It was the summer rhetorical question. Jumping over the sprinkle was a common remedy against the heat. The water always felt really cold at first, soothing. Sometimes we’d walk to the town pool, but we also had to walk back which defeated the purpose of getting cool at the pool. We never stayed home, though, heat or not. That just wasn’t done in summer. Every day had to be lived to its fullest.

In Ghana, I encountered HEAT. Day after day was often over 100˚. My shower had no hot water, but I didn’t care. A cold shower was relief. It was like jumping over the sprinkler. We never really complained, but we did use the old “hot enough for you?” mostly as a joke. I didn’t even have a fan, didn’t think to buy one. Traveling was best done at night or in the early morning because being crammed into a lorry was never pleasant and sitting next to a window never really helped. But again, we didn’t complain. We accepted our lot and just did the best we could.

Now I complain and whine. I am getting older and believe both are my due.